PKL 12: Telugu Titans full squad list ft. Vijay Malik

Telugu Titans exercise all three of their FBM cards on the raiders in the PKL 12 auction.

Eleven seasons on, the drought has not ended yet. With one of the biggest fan bases among all teams, Telugu Titans are the only team from the first edition that has not lifted the trophy yet. They have not qualified for the playoffs since the fourth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League!

That rut could have potentially ended last time, with the Titans having started the season very well. However, they struggled to string together a series of victories. A fluctuating form and Pawan Sehrawat’s fitness problems saw them finish seventh in the league table, one place behind the playoffs zone.

Dronacharya awardee Krishan Kumar Hooda is the head coach of the team in the upcoming season. The Titans retained eight players, which include two Elite Retained Players (ERP), two Retained Young Players (RYP), and four Existing New Young Players (NYP). After entering the auction with a whopping Rs 3.62 crore, they spent Rs 3.15 crore to buy twelve players.

Surprisingly, the Titans decided not to use the FBM card for Pawan Sehrawat even though he was sold for just Rs 59.50 lakh. However, they used the FBM to bring back Vijay Malik, Ashish Narwal, and Manjeet. Having shelled out Rs. 81 lakhs for Bharat Hooda, they seem to have a strong raiding unit.

Jai Bhagwan, Praful Zaware, and Amir Hossein Ejlali are good back-ups. The only missing factor here might be an explosive raider. However, a certain degree of consistency can be expected from their current unit.

Despite retaining Shankar Gadai, the management splurged Rs. 80 lakhs for Shubham Shinde. Buying Aman at the end could be a crucial decision, although they could still potentially have Ankit at the left corner position. Right cover, Sagar Rawal had a decent outing in PKL 11, while Ajit Pawar is a tried-and-tested left cover.

Coach Hooda yet again has a squad, which he will enjoy working with, especially considering that many of the players have been hand-picked by him. The team has covered most of the bases. They might have missed an X-factor that can change the course of the match in the blink of an eye.

Nevertheless, if the key players are in form, the Telugu Titans should be positive about finally sealing a place in the knockouts.

Telugu Titans squad for PKL 12:

Raiders: Ashish Narwal, Manjeet Sharma, Praful Zaware, Chetan Sahu, Nitin, Rohit Singh, Amir Ejlali, Jai Bhagwan.

Defenders: Shubham Shinde, Sagar Rawal, Ajit Pawar, Aman, Ankit, Bantu Malik, Avi Duhan, Rahul Dagar.

All-rounders: Bharat Hooda, Vijay Malik, Shankar Gadai, Ganesh Parki.

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